I’m a statistics nerd – I love analyzing my past races, workout splits, turning points and so on. It allows me to take a real look at where my strengths and weaknesses are and to make informed decisions about how to achieve my goals, something I wasn’t always able to do.

Right now, with my daughter just a couple months old and having had a C-section I’m preparing for issues associated with being both postpartum and post-surgery, as well as having taken a nice long break from running. The good news is that taking a real look at where I am with running will be easy! Coming back from baby, burnout, injury, or any other break is an obvious time to take a running inventory, and it’s a much more objective task to assess your running performance when you haven’t been running. It’s easier to admit if you’re not in great shape or not where you want to be. It’s easier to admit that a workout felt harder when you know you haven’t been building your fitness up. It’s easier to face reality in a time when we have a great excuse!

What isn’t as easy is the far more subjective process of assessing your running ability when you aren’t starting from scratch. And it’s not even just about the numbers! There are things you can’t tell from analyzing stats and splits and there are things a coach can’t assess. But the worst part is that a really good running inventory will require an honesty with yourself that can be downright brutal. Read more >>

We’ve all been there. It’s the beginning of a new year and we have a list of lofty goals for ourselves. Stick to our strength training plan, stop eating second (or third) desserts, or simply run faster.

But like normal people, we runners are prone to fail at keeping our resolutions. In fact, 92% of humanity is back to their old yous by February. As a pal, I’d rather you join the elite eight-percent, the club of people who are successful in giving themselves a makeover. That’s why I am offering you my unpatented eight-step plan to stick to your 2017 New Year’s resolutions. Pitter patter. Let’s get at’er.

Do you consider yourself a dedicated runner, yet still find that you often struggle to get going when it’s time to run? This problem seems more common in the winter, when the urge to feel warm and snuggly overrides our desire to go outside or jump on the ‘mill. That’s why we’re kicking off our 2017 Treadmill Tip of the Week series with helping you deal with your inner Bertha.

Bertha?

Yeah, there’s an inside joke here at Salty Running about Bertha. If anyone mentions that she’s dreading a run or putting it off or can’t find motivation, you know, whining about having to run, someone else chimes in with a “Get on the treadmill, Bertha!”

Who you calling Bertha, you ask? Bertha is the Running Queen of First World Problems. She is me. She is you. She is all of us. Read more >>

This year will be different, I said.No more skimping on workouts, I said.I’m going to really commit to a plan and follow it to a T, I said.

Ahhh, the Honey at the start of a training cycle is so optimistic! So hopeful! So naive, her calendar empty enough to be a zen garden of tranquility!

And then life happens. Real, cluttered, exhausting life. There have been work, travel, and weather obstacles (not to mention my own Bertha moments) that have made it more than a little stressful to fit in all of my training each week. But what if I flipped my mindset? Could I see my perceived shortcomings as actually training in disguise?

With our handy list of excuses you’ll be feeling like this at mile 25 of your marathon, but still be able to hang with the most hardcore.

Have you been telling everyone that you’re fit and finally ready for an epic marathon, but concerned it might be very unpleasant to actually run as fast as you’ve been bragging you can? Are you afraid to “bend the rules” and trim a little off the course or pay that fast guy in your running club to run the race for you now that there are people who dedicate their lives to outing cheaters? We have the answer for you.

It just wasn’t my day.

You can have whatever goal you want, but with “It just wasn’t my day” and a handful of excuses reasons, you’ll fit right in at the after party and maintain the fantasy that you really are the fast marathoner of your dreams and that your friends believe you. We’ve compiled this handy list of reasons for you to choose from. We recommend a minimum of two, but no more than five for maximum effect. Too few and you’ll sound boring. Too many and you’ll sound like a paranoid lunatic. Read more >>

On Tuesday, I had a heckuva stressful day and when I finally made it to the track I bombed my workout. I didn’t even do one complete interval. Not one! It was off the chain ridiculously bad. I was way stressed out for one thing, but even more importantly, I forgot to eat in the afternoon after a paltry lunch of pbj and an apple. We nursing moms can’t get away with that.

I was so mad because I actually wanted to do the workout. Other times though, I’ve gone into a workout with the excuses for my training log already writing themselves before I even hit the track. The weather is ____. I feel like ____.

And then the workout goes like _____.

This Friday 5 is dedicated to those of us who’ve made excuses for failing a workout before we’ve even started it, because that, my friends, is a wasted opportunity besides wasted time. Unless you really physically can’t, GET IT DONE, people!

I’m not going to lie: the last few weeks of training have been really hard for me. At times I have felt like what I was doing could not even legitimately be called training. However, as I have slogged through the miles, I’ve reflected back on past training seasons and have come to the conclusion that the last few weeks haven’t been hard because I am in an unusual situation. Nope, the reality is that the first 6 weeks of training are always the toughest.

So if you are struggling with getting your training off the ground like me, don’t worry. Keep at it and you’ll get into a great training groove soon; it just takes a little time. If you understand that it’s only temporary and that there are identifiable reasons why it is so tough, it will be easier to make it through. Read more >>

It’s Sunday morning, I’m snuggled up close in my boyfriends arms and I should be getting up to go to the group run, but I am just so darn comfortable. In the past the Sunday run would be a no brainer. You get up. You get out the door. You get it done. But these days my thought process when waking is not quite the same. Upon first waking I stretch my booted foot, rotate my ankles, and think, yeah still not 100%. Fantasies of a morning romp, or a fun brunch date run through my head. Or if it is a weekday I start to worry about everything that needs to be done at work and I want to bury my head under the covers. So I roll over, hit the snooze, and snuggle up rather than starting the day with that planned run.

I am being a very uninspiring runner these past few weeks and I am so sorry dear Salty readers! But hey that’s life. If you just aren’t getting it done, you might as well write about it and have a little laugh at your own expense right?

So for those days when you are feeling less than inspired to run here are Pepper’s current top five excuses for skipping your run. Read more >>